Dime language

Last updated
Dime
Native to Ethiopia
Region Debub (South) Omo Zone
Native speakers
11,000 (2007 census) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 dim
Glottolog dime1235
ELP Dimé

Dime or Dima is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNP) of Ethiopia, around Mount Smith. [1] Dime divides into at least two dialects, which include Us'a and Gerfa. It has six case suffixes in addition to an unmarked nominative. It is overwhelmingly suffixing, but uses prefixes for demonstratives and has reduplication. Phonologically, it is noteworthy among the Omotic languages for having phonemic velar and uvular fricatives. [2] The basic word order is subject–object–verb (SOV), as in other Omotic languages, and indeed in all members of the core of the Ethiopian Language Area.

Contents

The language, as well as the Dime people themselves, reportedly decreased in number over the 20th century due to predations from their neighbors the Bodi, and both are in danger of extinction. [3] According to official Ethiopian figures, the 1994 census reported 6293 speakers of the Dime language in the SNNP region alone; [4] in the 2007 census, only 574 speakers were reported for all of Ethiopia. [5] Further, because the Dime language still lacks a writing system and there are no local schools to promote the use of the language, it is even more threatened. [2]

Phonology

Consonants

BilabialAlveolarAlveo-palatalVelarUvularGlottal
PlosivesVoicelessptk
Voicedbdg
Ejectivep’t’k’ʔ
Implosiveɗ
FricativesVoicelessfsʃxχh
Voicedzʒɣʁ
Ejectives’
AffricatesVoicelessts
Voiced
Ejectivetʃ’
Nasalsmn
Liquidsl
r
Glideswj

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
CloseiɨU
Half-closeeO
Half-Openɛəɔ
Opena

Free variation

Dime undergoes phonological processes when speaking and one of them is free variation. Free variation is a phenomenon of two or more sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered as wrong by a native speaker of Dime.

h and ʔ are free variation word initially in some lexemes.

ʔˈalfe and halfe Knife

ʔˈaʁe and haʁe wood, knife

ʔààke and hààke to pick up

ʔaay and haay grass

yízí and hízí to run

yín or ʔín you (obj.)

Gemination

Dime has a lot of consonant gemination, which mostly occurs in the middle and final position of words, which distinguishes the meaning of lexemes.

túmú (deep) - túmmú (stomach)

ʔoloχ (quick) - ʔolloχ (slowly)

ʔane (hand) - ʔanne (wild life)

Syllable structure

Dime has both closed and open syllables as well as super-heavy syllables. Most consonants can occur in the middle and at the end of the word.

Syllable shapeexamplestranslation
CV'she'
'he'
CVCkáf'wait'
lág'friend'
CVVčúú 'bottom'
loo.mú'lemon'
CVVCneey'hunger'
zuúb'red'
CVCCgušš'nails'
fístmucu
gɘrž'cat'
CVVCClóokk
c’íížž


Dime also has consonant clusters, which are mostly made up of only two members.

At the end of the word:

gušš nails

físt sneeze

tálk borrow

sáánk floor

túss pillar

In the middle of the word:

dámpe tobacco

básumb fearful

gázde boundry

bedze out

Morphology and Syntax

Definiteness

A definite noun is one which refers to a specific entity. Morphologically, Dime distinguishes definite from indefinite nouns. Definiteness is marked by the suffix -is.

ʔ́ehé a house - ʔ́éh-is the house

nîts a child - nîts-is the child

ʔiyýi a person - ʔiyýs-is the person

ʔámzi gúdúm-ind-is the tall woman

woman tall -F-DEF

gúdúm-ub gǒst-is the tall man

tall            man DEF

In the last example, there is a modifier in the noun phrase; the definite marker is suffixed to the modifier.

The definite marker -is may optionally be changed to -iz when followed by a voiced consonant.

ʔéh-is the house

gášš-is the road

ʔámz-iz the woman

zúùb-iz the red one

Number

Nouns and noun phrases make a distinction between singular and plural. Singular is morphologically unmarked, whereas plural is marked by the suffix -af. That a head noun is plural can be inferred from the morpheme -id, which is suffixed to a modifier.

ʔéh-áf-is   the houses

house-PL-DEF

dər-áf-is    the goats

goat-PL-DEF

guur-af-is   the crocodiles

crocodile - PL-DEF

Pronouns

Below is a table of Dime Pronouns

SubjectObject
1SʔatéIʔis-imme
2SYaay/yáyeyouyin-imyou
3SM

3SF

he

she

kin-im

kon-im

him

her

1PLwótúwewon-imus
2PLyeséyou all/you guysyen-imyou all/you guys
3PLkététheyken-imthem

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omotic languages</span> Language family of Ethiopia and Sudan

The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have complex tonal systems. The languages have around 7.9 million speakers. The group is generally classified as belonging to the Afroasiatic language family, but this is disputed by some.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigrinya language</span> Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea

Tigrinya is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken in Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions.

Amharic is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other populations residing in major cities and towns in Ethiopia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oromo language</span> Cushitic language of Ethiopia and Kenya

Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushitic branch. It is native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia and Northern Kenya and is spoken predominantly by the Oromo people and neighboring ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa. It is used as a lingua franca particularly in the Oromia Region and northeastern Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandawe language</span> Language isolate of central Tanzania

Sandawe is a language spoken by about 60,000 Sandawe people in the Dodoma Region of Tanzania. Sandawe's use of click consonants, a rare feature shared with only two other languages of East Africa – Hadza and Dahalo, had been the basis of its classification as a member of the defunct Khoisan family of Southern Africa since Albert Drexel in the 1920s. Recent investigations however suggest that Sandawe may be related to the Khoe family regardless of the validity of Khoisan as a whole. A discussion of Sandawe's linguistic classification can be found in Sands (1998).

Bench is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira. In a 2006 dissertation, Christian Rapold described three varieties of Bench as "...mutually intelligible...varieties of one and the same language". Bench is the ancestral language of the Bench people.

Danish grammar is either the study of the grammar of the Danish language, or the grammatical system itself of the Danish language. Danish is often described as having ten word classes: verbs, nouns, pronouns, numerals, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. The grammar is mostly suffixing. This article focuses on Standard Danish.

Anfillo is a Northern Omotic language spoken in western Ethiopia by a few hundred people. The term Anfillo is used to refer both to the language and the people found in a small community in the Anfillo woreda, part of the Mirab Welega Zone. The language is on the verge of extinction as it is spoken only by adults above the age of sixty. All younger generations have shifted to Western Oromo as of 2007.

Argobba is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken in several districts of Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions of Ethiopia by the Argobba people. It belongs to the South Ethiopic languages subgroup, and is closely related to Amharic.

The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya, is a Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia.

The Qimant language is a highly endangered language spoken by a small and elderly fraction of the Qemant people in northern Ethiopia, mainly in the Chilga woreda in Semien Gondar Zone between Gondar and Metemma.

Dirasha is a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. It is spoken in the Omo region of Ethiopia, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around the town of Gidole.

Arbore is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Arbore people in southern Ethiopia in a few settlements of Hamer woreda near Lake Chew Bahir.

Baiso or Bayso is an Afro-Asiatic, more specifically a Lowland East Cushitic language belonging to the Omo-Tana subgroup, and is spoken in Ethiopia, in the region around Lake Abaya.

Chara is an Afro-Asiatic language of the North Omotic variety spoken in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia by 13,000 people.

Gamo-Gofa-Dawro is an Omotic language of the Afroasiatic family spoken in the Dawro, Gamo Gofa and Wolayita Zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region in Ethiopia. Varieties are spoken by the Gamo, Gofa, Dawro; Blench (2006) and Ethnologue treat these as separate languages. Zala presumably belongs here as well. Dialects of Dawro (Kullo-Konta) are Konta and Kucha. In 1992, Alemayehu Abebe collected a word-list of 322 entries for all three related dialects.

Sheko is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in the area between Tepi and Mizan Teferi in western Ethiopia, in the Sheko district in the Bench Maji Zone. The 2007 census lists 38,911 speakers; the 1998 census listed 23,785 speakers, with 13,611 identified as monolinguals.

Nayi is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in western Ethiopia. Most of the speakers of the language live in two separated areas. The largest grouping live in Decha woreda of the Keffa Zone. The nearest city to their region is Bonga. A few in Dulkuma village of the Shoa Bench woreda, some in Sheko woreda having moved there in 1976-1977 as a result of conflicts between local feudal lords and the military government. In Decha, young people no longer speak the language.

Komo is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Kwama (Komo) people of Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages. The language is also referred to as Madiin, Koma, South Koma, Central Koma, Gokwom and Hayahaya. Many individuals from Komo are multilingual because they are in close proximity to Mao, Kwama and Oromo speakers. Komo is closely related to Kwama, a language spoken by a group who live in the same region of Ethiopia and who also identify themselves as ethnically Komo. Some Komo and Kwama speakers recognize the distinction between the two languages and culture, whereas some people see it as one "ethnolinguistic" community. The 2007 Ethiopian census makes no mention of Kwama, and for this reason its estimate of 8,000 Komo speakers may be inaccurate. An older estimate from 1971 places the number of Komo speakers in Ethiopia at 1,500. The Komo language is greatly understudied; more information is being revealed as researchers are discovering more data about other languages within the Koman family.

The Chara also known as the Tsara are a people group of Ethiopia. They form a part of the Gimira peoples of Ethiopia and live in the Kaffa Highlands, and the Debub Omo area.

References

  1. 1 2 Dime at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Seyoum, Mulugeta (2008). A grammar of Dime (Ph.D. thesis). Leiden University. hdl: 1887/12833 .
  3. Fleming, Harold (1990). Richard Hayward (ed.). Omotic Language Studies. London: SOAS. p. 495. ISBN   9780728601666.
  4. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Table 2.14
  5. Central Statistical Agency. "Ethiopia - Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National". International Household Survey Network.